"I love working with passionate people who want to help address climate change and poverty by thinking and experimenting outside the square," says Nicole Kuepper, a PhD student and PV and renewable energy lecturer.

And indeed, outside the square Ms. Kuepper did think, for she happen to have thought of a solar cell concept that uses, of all things, a pizza oven. Even with the impending fall of prices for PV cells, many people from developing countries still wouldn't be able to afford solar installations. Thing is, whereas many of those who get solar installations aim to lower their carbon footprint, solar energy might be the only way some people from the remote areas of the developing world could enjoy electricity.

Called the iJET cell concept, the process would use low-cost materials and would have low energy requirements. There are no details about the solar cell available for now; all we know is that the process would enlist the use of an inkjet printer aside from the pizza oven. It might take five years for the technology to be commercialized. When it becomes available though, I imagine it could be a tremendous help for a lot of people, what with being able to manufacture the new solar cells on site.